Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen (23 September 1848 - 4 October 1895) was a Norwegian-American author and college professor. He is best remembered for his novel Gunnar: A Tale of Norse Life, which is generally considered to have been the first novel by a Norwegian immigrant in America. He was born at the Norwegian naval base Fredriksvern, near the village of Stavern in Vestfold County, Norway. Boyesen grew up in Fredriksvern, then in Kongsberg, and, from 1854, at Systrand in Sogn. From 1860, he went to Drammen Latin School, and, after his final exams, he took another exam at the university in 1868. Boyesen was well-schooled in both German and Scandinavian literature, graduating from the University of Leipzig and the University of Oslo.